MH question again sooo tired

[trickle25]

this is the one part of this hobby that ive hated so far there are so many choices and configurtions....well ok heres my prob..i had decided to go with dual 175 MH to add to my 4 vho's but icalled a friend to ask for his opinion and he said to i should go with dual 250w MH wouldnt this be way to much lighting i mean 4vho and 2x 250 w MH for only a 60g ..and cant 2 much light be bad for corals ?

 

[calvindo]

IMO... yes, that will be way overkill for a 60G. I have dual 250w mh and dual 160w vho in my 125G. It is supeeeeeeeeeeeer bright! I cant imagine adding anymore lights, as it is so bright already.
if you go with your friends recommendation... i think you'll end up filling up your tank on a daily basis, due to evaporation... hehehehe jk

 

[calvindo]

heres a picture.

 

[trickle25]

ya i thought dual 250w would be way 2 much....im gonna stick with a dual 175w maybe even just one in the center

 

[calvindo]

trust me when i say its bright. heheheh... yea, 1 mh would do too... maybe a single 250w. You can find some great deals on ----. thats where i bought mine

 

[trickle25]

just wonderin how many fans you have on the hood ? and do they always run...MH are always hot right ?

 

[calvindo]

i have 2 fans on each corner. I wired it to only turn on when my mh's are on. YES, they are extremely hot... Be sure to have enough clearance space between your canopy and the top of your tank. Otherwise your glass will crack or your acrylic will melt.

 

[bdhough]

It more depends on the depth of your tank rather than the size. Dual 250's or dual 175's would work either way. Your main concern is heat and keeping the canopy cool and happy. If you ever plan on going bigger and badder in tank size you may want the 250's now rather than later. Certainly if you can find similar prices for the 2 i would take the 250's over the 175's and then maybe scale back your vho's or something to that extent. Are 60's shaped like 75's and 90's meaning they are more proportional in depth and height?
Keep in mind also the corals you wish to do. Some do need THAT much light to stay alive. Some don't. Whether or not corals get burned or not depends also on how long you leave the lights on too as well as how you acclimate them to their new lighting conditions. Just think about the corals in the wild. They get their MAX lighiting maybe 6 hours at the most a day as well as lighting shifts from season changes which happen over a matter of weeks.

 

[trickle25]

thanks for the info...im gonna do the 250w with 2 fans now i gotta modify my figure out how to make my canopy taller

 

[calvindo]

Originally posted by bdhough
It more depends on the depth of your tank rather than the size. Dual 250's or dual 175's would work either way. Your main concern is heat and keeping the canopy cool and happy. If you ever plan on going bigger and badder in tank size you may want the 250's now rather than later. Certainly if you can find similar prices for the 2 i would take the 250's over the 175's and then maybe scale back your vho's or something to that extent. Are 60's shaped like 75's and 90's meaning they are more proportional in depth and height?
Keep in mind also the corals you wish to do. Some do need THAT much light to stay alive. Some don't. Whether or not corals get burned or not depends also on how long you leave the lights on too as well as how you acclimate them to their new lighting conditions. Just think about the corals in the wild. They get their MAX lighiting maybe 6 hours at the most a day as well as lighting shifts from season changes which happen over a matter of weeks.

good point!

 

[calvindo]

Originally posted by trickle25
thanks for the info...im gonna do the 250w with 2 fans now i gotta modify my figure out how to make my canopy taller

yes, i think that is a good choice. but also take bdhough comments, into consideration.

 

[trickle25]

good point bdhough about expanding later on .. i do want to get a 125g later on....and for coarls im just gonna keep soft corals...ill try to find a ballast that i can handle 2x250s and just attach one for now ...

 

[bdhough]

If all you want are softs why bother with the halides? I don't know of any that your 4 vho's can't handle. Possibly expand into SPS? If you eventually want a 125 then also remember to get seperate halides rather than a fixture. 125's are 6 feet Ideally you'd have a halide over every 2 feet of tank.

 

[trickle25]

i dont think ill expand into SPS i onces ive seen so far i dont like....so my VHO shoud be able to handle all types of soft corals cool...guess i can spend the 200 i was gonna buy the MH with i can buy somthing else for the tank

 

[bdhough]

You may get different colors/ better growth but my guess is nothing worth spending the money on. Not with softies. Of course it doesn't hurt to have halides for them. There may be other opinions out there.
One more thing you may want to consider is the actual lighting in your tank. Is it enough now that you like it? A halide would certainly help

 

[bdhough]

and ANOTHER thing, i'm full of them, think of buying a halide system as an investment at this point. If you think of it that way you may be happier and more justified in getting it....
and ANOTHER thing, if you like clams at all they need halides

 

[trickle25]

bdhough you keep changin my mind with every post...

 

[calvindo]

Originally posted by bdhough
If all you want are softs why bother with the halides? I don't know of any that your 4 vho's can't handle. Possibly expand into SPS? If you eventually want a 125 then also remember to get seperate halides rather than a fixture. 125's are 6 feet Ideally you'd have a halide over every 2 feet of tank.

true... but vho doesnt give you the true look of a reef. you can actually see the water trickle across your tank with mh.
my suggestion, go to your lfs and look at a tank with mh and compare it to your vho tank. thats what i did, before i decided to go with mh and vho mixture.

 

[trickle25]

thats a good idea ill go to the lfs tomorrow

 

[cool clown]

The best lighting my lfs have is a 55w power compact that is it. They don't even sell MH or vho. They have power compact up to a 130w. They want 359.00 for that. The next closes lfs is 150 miles away. I get no displays to check out. Sorry I will go get some cheese(to go with my wine).